Well it doesn’t get any better than this. Eight goals, two hat-tricks and the most remarkable sequence of scoring. And at the end of a high-octane rollercoaster of a local derby it was almost easy to forget that this was Steve Bruce’s first victory as Wigan manager.

It was also at his third attempt, but never can a debut maximum haul have been so dramatically secured. Wigan, having won it once with a three-goal lead, were pegged back and had to do it all over again. Add to the mix the fact that there was also a missed penalty and a sending off, then the story of such a crazy chaotic contest begins to unfold.

Marcus Bent and Roque Santa Cruz both scored three goals but Bent claimed home advantage and walked off with the match ball. Steve Bruce said: “When Blackburn scored their third I thought, ‘Here we go’. We could have surrendered. That’s what happens when you have gone three months without a win. But it was a wonderful response. It has been a difficult week, especially after that mauling at Bolton. But that performance, especially in the first half, was as near a complete performance as it gets.”

The Wigan manager had set himself a target before yesterday of getting at least 10 points from the next six games to kick-start their season. So not much pressure then for a team that had gone 13 games without a win.

For this highly important starter he was able to bring back Emile Heskey and Titus Bramble with Jason Koumas dropped to the bench for the first time.

The visitors, on a bit of a slump themselves having now only won once in the last seven games, had both Ryan Nelsen and David Bentley back from suspension.

With Santa Claus leading out the teams there was certainly a lot of festive spirit around the stadium and it was Blackburn who entered into the season of good will almost right from the kick off with a two-goal cushion within 11 minutes.

First, Bent sent through a precision ball past the alarmingly static Blackburn defence for Denny Landzaat to calmly slide it past a stranded Brad Friedel. Then seconds later, it was Bent who capitalised on yet more hesitant defending as he latched onto a loose ball to drive it high into the net.

Remarkably, it was Friedel’s 163rd consecutive appearance for Blackburn and it was not the start or lack of protection he would have expected.

The stunning opening exchanges continued with the visitors extending their charity at the other end of the pitch. On 20 minutes Heskey was harshly judged to have held down Christopher Samba inside the area, the resultant spot kick was nothing short of woeful. Benni McCarthy, top scorer with five Premiership goals, ambled up to the spot and leisurely stroked the ball. Chris Kirkland had oceans of time to dive to his right and parry it away.

After all the early commotion there were a few moments of calm before the storm continued. Bent and Heskey were still causing problems before yet another breakthrough added to the somewhat surreal score line. This time, with half time fast approaching, Ryan Taylor powered in a free kick from the by-line and there was Paul Scharner to dive in where others feared to tread to nod in the third.

The celebratory mood was interrupted by Heskey falling to the ground and being stretchered off and then with almost the last kick of the first half Santa Cruz fired in a fierce long range shot to reduce the arrears.

The high octane action notched up another gear after the turnaround and incredibly after just about an hour Blackburn were back on level terms. Almost straight from the kick-off Steve Reid’s header from Brett Emerton’s cross was well blocked at close range by Kirkland but there was Santa Cruz at the far post to nip in for his second. His hat-trick came courtesy of Stephen Warnock’s pinpoint delivery.

Of course there was still much more to come. Just before drawing level, Emerton was sent off after a second yellow card for a crude challenge on Taylor. Then, within minutes of suffering that hugely deflating blow of a Blackburn equaliser, Wigan simply dusted themselves down, picked themselves up and did it all over again. Antonio Valencia stormed down the right flank to send in a spiralling ball for Bent to head home. The rest of the game continued in chaos and the two calmest people around appeared to be the two managers. Bruce and the Blackburn boss Mark Hughes stood virtually side by side and virtually mesmerised and motionless as they watched what was rapidly resembling a heavyweight boxing contest. Both opponents were still slugging each other out looking for that knockout blow.

It eventually came on 80 minutes as Julius Aghahowa, a replacement for Heskey, looked in almost slow motion as he rolled the ball across the area for Bent to seal his hat trick and the victory. After it all Hughes said: “The first half was unacceptable. Defensively we were all over the place. You can’t win games if you only defend for 45 minutes. We are shipping in goals at the moment and that is something we certainly have to look at.”

Match stats

Player ratings:

Wigan: Kirkland 6, Boyce 6, Bramble 6, Scharner 7, Kilbane 7, Valencia 6, Landzatt 7, Brown 7, Taylor 7 (Olembe 89min), Bent 9, Heskey 7 (Aghahowa 40min. 6, Granqvist 90min)

Blackburn Rovers: Friedel 7, Emerton 6, Samba 6, Nelsen 6, Warnock 7, Bentley 7, Savage 7, Reid 6, Pedersen 6, Cruz 8, McCarthy 6 (Derbyshire 74)

Star man: Marcus Bent (Wigan)

Scorers: Wigan:Landzaat 9, Bent 11, 65, 80, Scharner 36 Blackburn:Santa Cruz 45, 49, 60